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WO2003034321A1 - Dispositif et procede pour l'execution de fonctions preetablies en fonction d'objets reconnus - Google Patents

Dispositif et procede pour l'execution de fonctions preetablies en fonction d'objets reconnus Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2003034321A1
WO2003034321A1 PCT/US2002/006972 US0206972W WO03034321A1 WO 2003034321 A1 WO2003034321 A1 WO 2003034321A1 US 0206972 W US0206972 W US 0206972W WO 03034321 A1 WO03034321 A1 WO 03034321A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
digital image
selected digital
recognized
mail
function
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English (en)
Inventor
Eric Lawrence Barsness
John Matthew Santosuosso
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International Business Machines Corp
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International Business Machines Corp
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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00204—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server
    • H04N1/00209—Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
    • H04N1/00212—Attaching image data to computer messages, e.g. to e-mails
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/10—Office automation; Time management
    • G06Q10/107—Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00204—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server
    • H04N1/00209—Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N1/32037—Automation of particular transmitter jobs, e.g. multi-address calling, auto-dialing
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N1/32037—Automation of particular transmitter jobs, e.g. multi-address calling, auto-dialing
    • H04N1/32085—Automation of other tasks, e.g. repetitive execution or sequencing
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N1/32101—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
    • H04N1/32106—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title separate from the image data, e.g. in a different computer file
    • H04N1/32112—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title separate from the image data, e.g. in a different computer file in a separate computer file, document page or paper sheet, e.g. a fax cover sheet
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N1/32101—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
    • H04N1/32128—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title attached to the image data, e.g. file header, transmitted message header, information on the same page or in the same computer file as the image
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N2201/3201—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
    • H04N2201/3212—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title of data relating to a job, e.g. communication, capture or filing of an image
    • H04N2201/3214—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title of data relating to a job, e.g. communication, capture or filing of an image of a date
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N2201/3201—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
    • H04N2201/3225—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title of data relating to an image, a page or a document
    • H04N2201/3226—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title of data relating to an image, a page or a document of identification information or the like, e.g. ID code, index, title, part of an image, reduced-size image
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N2201/3201—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
    • H04N2201/3225—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title of data relating to an image, a page or a document
    • H04N2201/3245—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title of data relating to an image, a page or a document of image modifying data, e.g. handwritten addenda, highlights or augmented reality information
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N2201/3201—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
    • H04N2201/3271—Printing or stamping

Definitions

  • This invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for digital images, and more specifically relates to an apparatus and method for processing a digital image and performing some predetermined function in response to recognizing one or more defined objects in the digital image.
  • CCDs CCDs or other sensors that each record the color and intensity of light that strikes it when a digital photograph is taken.
  • Each CCD or sensor typically makes up one "pixel" in a bit-map of thousands or millions of pixels that collectively define a digital image.
  • digital photography is the ability to store digital images in electronic form, usually as files. This allows traditional file management techniques to be used to store and retrieve digital images.
  • digital cameras typically record digital images on a recordable media, such as a floppy disk or a memory stick that is made of flash electronically erasable programmable read-only memory
  • the digital images stored in the camera may then be loaded into a computer, either by placing the recordable media in a reader coupled to the computer, or by coupling the digital camera to the computer via a suitable cable and transferring all the images from the digital camera to the computer's hard disk drive.
  • Most modern digital cameras, such a digital cameras manufactured by the Sony Corporation assign sequential identifiers to digital images.
  • the first image taken by the digital camera may be identified as "Dsc00001.jpg”
  • the second image as "Dsc00002.jpg”
  • the names of these digital images are numerical and are assigned automatically by the digital camera.
  • the user must then open each image, determine what is in the image, and determine where to store the image.
  • the user may also rename the image to reflect the contents of the image.
  • a user defines a directory "people" in the PC's file system, with subdirectories for different people of interest. Let's also assume that the user defines directories for "football”, “landscapes”, “sunsets", “cars”, and “other”.
  • the user After downloading a batch of images from a digital camera, the user generally must open the image, visually determine what is in the image, and store the image in the appropriate directory.
  • the user may change the name of the image from a numerical designator (such as "Dsc00002.jpg”) to something more descriptive, such as "Katie - Christmas 2000.jpg”.
  • a digital image may be attached to an e-mail message and sent to specified recipients.
  • E-mail distribution lists may be defined that avoid the need to manually enter each recipient.
  • the e-mail message itself must still be manually assembled. In other words, for a mother to send digital images of her children to her parents (the grandparents) , she must first generate a new e-mail message, identify her parents as the recipient (or recipients) , attach each one of the digital images to be sent, and send the e-mail message .
  • one or more objects are defined, and one or more corresponding functions are defined for one or more of the defined objects.
  • An object recognition processor processes digital images, looking for the defined objects. For each defined object that is found in the digital image, a corresponding function is performed.
  • digital images of people's faces are defined as objects. Digital images are processed to see if any of the objects (faces) are present in the digital image. If an object is recognized, an e-mail message is automatically generated with a distribution list that is defined by the recognized object or objects. In this e-mail example, the distribution list will be a superset of the specified distribution lists for all recognized objects. Thus, a digital image that includes grandpa, grandma, and a grandson may be automatically sent to the recipients defined for each of these recognized objects. In this manner the process of processing digital images is greatly enhanced according to objects that are recognized in the digital image.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art digital camera coupled to a personal computer
  • FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for generating digital images and transferring the digital images to a personal computer
  • FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for sending a digital image as an attachment to an e-mail message
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with the preferred embodiments.
  • FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the preferred embodiments for defining objects to look for in digital images and for defining one or more corresponding functions for one or more of the defined objects;
  • FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the preferred embodiments for processing a digital image for defined objects and for performing corresponding function (s) when a defined object is recognized in the digital image;
  • FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of one sample method for step 620 in FIG. 6 in accordance with the preferred embodiments.
  • FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of another sample method for step 620 in FIG. 6 in accordance with the preferred embodiments.
  • FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of one sample method for step 620 in FIG. 6 in accordance with the preferred embodiments.
  • FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of one sample method for step 620 in FIG. 6 in accordance with the preferred embodiments
  • FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of one sample method for step 620B in FIG. 8 in accordance with the preferred embodiments;
  • FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of another sample method for step 620B in FIG. 8 in accordance with the preferred embodiments
  • FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a system 1300 in accordance with one specific implementation in accordance with the preferred embodiments that automatically generates and sends an e-mail message that includes digital images as a result of recognizing one or more defined objects in a digital image;
  • FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a method for defining objects to search for in a digital image with corresponding e-mail distribution lists for the system of FIG. 13;
  • FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a method for processing images and automatically sending one or more e-mails when a defined object is recognized in a digital image
  • FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a sample digital image
  • the present invention relates to digital images. For those not familiar with digital images or methods used to generate and manipulate digital images, this Overview section will provide background information that will help to understand the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art system 100 that includes a digital camera 110 coupled to a personal computer 120.
  • digital camera 110 may be used in a stand- alone mode (separate from personal computer 120) to capture digital images (i.e., to take digital pictures).
  • the specific configuration in FIG. 1 assumes that the digital camera 110 may be directly coupled to personal computer 120 via a cable or wireless connection, such as via a serial port, as is known in the art.
  • personal computer 120 may execute digital photo software 122 that downloads one or more digital images 124 from the digital camera and stores the digital images in the PC's memory.
  • a user typically must rename the digital images and manually store the digital images in locations that facilitate easily locating and identifying each digital image in the future.
  • Personal computer 120 may also execute e-mail software 126.
  • a user may create an e-mail message using e-mail software 126, and may then e-mail any digital image 124 to specified recipients.
  • e-mail software 126 typically includes the ability to define distribution lists, there is currently no known way for e-mail software 126 to automatically determine to whom a digital image should be sent based on the contents of the digital image.
  • FIG. 2 a prior art method for the system of FIG. 1 begins by a user taking digital pictures or images (step 210) using the digital camera 110. The digital images are then downloaded to the personal computer (step 220) . Downloading digital images may occur in any suitable fashion.
  • Known methods include removing recordable media from the digital camera and placing the recordable media in a reader coupled to the personal computer, or coupling the digital camera to the personal computer via a cable or wireless link for serial transmission of the digital images between the digital camera and the personal computer.
  • the digital images 124 are typically renamed and organized into folders (step 230) to allow for organization of the digital images that will lead to easy retrieval and use of the images in the future.
  • Step 230 is similar to organizing papers in files and files in a filing cabinet for efficient retrieval when needed at a later time.
  • Method 300 of FIG. 3 relates to the second step discussed above.
  • An e-mail message is then created with the selected digital image (s) as attachments (step 320).
  • the recipients of the e-mail message are then defined (step 330) . Note that the recipients may be defined by individually entering each recipient, or by specifying a distribution list that includes one or more e-mail recipients.
  • the e-mail message is then sent (step 340) .
  • Method 200 of FIG. 2 and method 300 of FIG. 3 graphically illustrate that there is no link between digital image functions and e-mail functions in the prior art.
  • the present invention is presented herein as a solution that provides this needed link, as discussed in detail below.
  • the preferred embodiments provide an object recognition processor that analyzes a digital image for the presence of defined objects, such as people.
  • a corresponding predefined function for each defined object is performed.
  • One example of such a predefined function is automatically generating an e-mail message that includes the digital image, and sending the e-mail message to a list of recipients that is determined by the recognized objects.
  • people's faces may be defined as objects to search for, with a different e-mail distribution list for each defined object.
  • Digital images may then be searched for the defined objects (people), and automatically e-mailed to the e-mail distribution list for each recognized object, resulting in an e-mail distribution list that is a superset of the e-mail distribution list for all recognized objects in the digital image.
  • a system 400 in accordance with the preferred embodiments includes a digital image source 410 coupled to an object recognition processor 420.
  • the digital image source 410 may be a digital camera, may be a repository of digital images (such as a floppy disk or a hard disk drive) , as is intended in its broadest sense to include any suitable source of digital images.
  • the object recognition processor 420 includes an image analyzer 430 that is used to process digital images received from the digital image source 410.
  • the object recognition processor 420 includes one or more defined objects 440. In the preferred embodiments, defined objects 440 may include portions of digital images that are, themselves, digital images.
  • one way to define the defined objects 440 is to display an existing digital image, select a portion of the digital image, and store the selected portion as a defined object. This allows, for example, a person's face in a digital image to be stored as a defined object. Face recognition is an especially useful aspect of the preferred embodiments. Note, however, that defined objects 440 may be any suitable criteria for recognizing an object or a pattern in a digital image within the scope of the preferred embodiments .
  • Image analyzer 430 includes recognition logic 432 that determines when a digital image includes one or more defined objects 440.
  • recognition logic Any suitable recognition criteria and logic may be used within the scope of the preferred embodiments.
  • One example of known -recognition logic is Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) , discussed in detail in a report at www.northumbria.com/iidr/research/cbir/report.html.
  • recognition logic 432 may include intelligence that allows identifying defined objects in a digital image based on processing multiple digital images. For example, let's assume that in one digital image, a small boy is running away from the camera through a sprinkler in his swimming suit.
  • the recognition logic will likely not recognize the boy as the defined object, which we assume for this example is the boy's face. However, let's also assume that the next digital image to be processed has the boy running through the sprinkler with his face visible. Recognition logic could recognize that the defined object in the second image is in proximity to a swimming suit that has a particular color pattern, and may conclude that the swimming suit in the first image corresponds to the defined object for the boy as well. Of course, many other criteria and logic may be built into the recognition logic 432 within the scope of the preferred embodiments. In addition to defined objects 440, there are also one or more defined functions 450 that are defined that correspond to the defined objects 440.
  • a method 500 begins by defining one or more objects to look for in digital images (step 510) .
  • one or more corresponding functions are defined for the defined objects
  • Method 500 includes the preliminary steps that are performed before digital images can be analyzed. Once method 500 has been performed, method 600 of FIG. 6 is then performed.
  • FIGS. 7-10 show some examples of steps that may be performed in step 620 of FIG. 6.
  • method 620A assumes that e-mail distribution lists have been defined for each defined object in step 520 of FIG. 5.
  • the e-mail distribution list for each recognized object is added to the recipient list for a current e-mail message that includes the digital image.
  • the resulting distribution list is preferably a superset of the distribution lists for all recognized objects, so when a recipient is found in a distribution list that is already in the distribution list for the current e-mail message, the recipient is not added again to the distribution list for the current e-mail message.
  • the e-mail message that includes the digital image is sent to the recipients (step 720) .
  • step 620B in FIG. 8 Another example of step 620 in FIG. 6 is shown as step 620B in FIG. 8.
  • One suitable function that may be performed in response to recognized objects is to modify the digital image to include data relating to the recognized objects (step 620B) .
  • Another suitable function, as shown in FIG. 9, is to rename the digital image according to the recognized objects (step 620C) . This function generates names for the digital images that are more descriptive than the sequentially-assigned labels assigned by known digital cameras.
  • Another suitable function, as shown in FIG. 10 is to store the digital image according to the recognized objects (step 620D) . This function allows automatic sorting and storage of digital images that include defined objects. Thus, any digital image that includes a particular person may be stored in a directory that contains only images that contain that person.
  • step 620D could store the digital image in each of the three directories .
  • Methods 620B shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 each show steps that could be performed to modify a digital image within the scope of step 620B in FIG. 8.
  • step 1110 embeds text in the digital image that identifies name and age of the people in a digital image. This text could be located in any suitable location, such as the lower right corner of the digital image, and could be any suitable size or color.
  • a digital image of a grandma holding her grandson Danny could be modified to show Grandma JoAnn, her age, and Danny, with his age, in the lower right hand corner of the digital image.
  • a date instead of the ages (or in addition to the ages) could be included in the digital image.
  • the text would be visible in the digital image itself, and would therefore replace data in the digital image with data that would make the text visible on the digital image.
  • Another way to modify a digital image is to add information to a digital image that is not visible in the digital image. Referring to FIG. 12, one way to do this is to append hidden data to a digital image file (step 1210) .
  • the digital image can be printed on one side of a sheet (step 1220) , while the information in the hidden data field can be printed on the back side of the printed sheet (step 1230) .
  • the method of FIG. 12 thus allows automatically printing information regarding what is in a digital image on the back side of the printed digital image.
  • FIGS. 13-18 One specific example of the preferred embodiments is the automatic generation of an e-mail that includes a digital image based on objects recognized in the digital image.
  • a system 1300 is a more specific implementation of system 400 of FIG. 4, and includes a digital image generator 1310, an object recognition processor 1320, and an e-mail processor 1360.
  • Digital image generator 1310 is preferably a known digital image generator, such as that known in the art of digital cameras.
  • Object recognition processor 1320 includes an image analyzer 1330 that searches a digital image for defined objects 1340 using recognition logic 1332.
  • E-mail processor 1360 includes an automatic e-mail generator/sender for digital images that include one or more defined objects 1370. Note that this generator/sender 1370 may include a distribution list editor 1380 to modify one or more distribution lists 1350 or to modify the final distribution list for the e-mail message generated by the e-mail processor 1360.
  • system 1300 may be implemented in a single device or in multiple devices coupled together. Thus, system 1300 could be implemented within a digital camera within the scope of the preferred embodiments.
  • the digital image generator 1310 may be a digital camera, with the object recognition processor 1320 and the e-mail processor 1360 comprising software running on a personal computer.
  • the digital image generator 1310 and object recognition processor 1320 may also reside within a digital camera, while the e-mail processor 1360 is software running on a personal computer coupled to the digital camera.
  • the digital image generator 1310, object recognition processor 1320, and e-mail processor 1360 may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardware and software.
  • the object recognition processor of the preferred embodiments is capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution.
  • suitable signal bearing media include: recordable type media such as floppy disks and CD ROM, and transmission type media such as digital and analog communications links.
  • the configurations mentioned above are examples of some configurations that are within the scope of the preferred embodiments.
  • the preferred embodiments expressly extend to any device or combination of devices that may implement the functions of system 400 in FIG. 4, or that may implement the functions of system 1300 of FIG. 13.
  • a method 1400 for the specific system of FIG. 13 is a specific method for the e-mail example in FIG. 13 that is within the scope of method 500 of FIG. 5.
  • Method 1400 begins by defining a digital image of a search object (step 1410) .
  • the search object is one of the defined objects 1340 in FIG. 13, and is preferably defined by selecting a portion of an existing digital image as a search object (or defined object) .
  • Method 1400 shows the steps in creating defined objects and defining corresponding e-mail addresses for these defined objects.
  • a face of a person could be defined as a search object
  • an e- mail distribution list can then be defined for that face portion. This allows the object recognition processor 1320 to automatically process digital images and to automatically generate an e-mail message to specified recipients according to the contents of the digital images, as discussed in more detail below.
  • a method 1500 is a specific method for the e-mail example in FIGS. 13 and 14 that is within the scope of method 600 in FIG. 6.
  • Method 1500 begins by loading a digital image (step 1510) .
  • FIGS. 16-18 We now illustrate the function of the apparatus and methods in FIGS. 13-15 using a simple example in FIGS. 16-18.
  • a digital image labeled Imagel.jpg in FIG. 16 is a digital image that includes faces for people that correspond to defined objects called Grandpa Joe 1610, Danny 1620, and Uncle Bill 1630.
  • the user defines the objects 1610, 1620 and 1630 in step 1410 of FIG. 14, then defines an e-mail distribution list for each defined object in step 1420.
  • the e-mail distribution list for the three objects 1610, 1620 and 1630 in FIG. 16 are shown in FIG. 17.
  • the distribution lists include labels, such as Grandpa Joe,
  • the defined object Grandpa Joe has an e-mail distribution list that includes the recipients Grandpa Joe and Grandma JoAnn.
  • the defined object Uncle Bill has an e-mail distribution list that includes the recipients Uncle Bill and Home.
  • the defined object Danny has an e-mail distribution list that includes the recipients Grandpa Joe, Grandma JoAnn, Aunt Sylvia, Cousin Fred, and Home.
  • step 1510 the digital image Imagel.jpg in FIG. 16 is loaded in step 1510.
  • step 1530 YES.
  • a new e- mail message is then created and designated as the current e- mail message (step 1540) .
  • the distribution list for the current e-mail message is empty.
  • the Grandpa Joe object 1610 is first selected in step 1550.
  • the recipients in the e-mail distribution list corresponding to the Grandpa Joe object are then added to the e-mail distribution list for the current e-mail message (step 1560) .
  • Grandpa Joe and Grandma JoAnn see FIG.
  • step 1570 YES
  • the Uncle Bill object 1630 is then selected (step 1550) .
  • the recipients in the e-mail distribution list for the Uncle Bill object are then added to the e-mail distribution list for the current e-mail message (step 1560) .
  • the e-mail distribution list at this point in time will include Grandpa Joe, Grandma JoAnn, Uncle Bill, and Home.
  • the Danny object 1620 is then selected (step 1550) .
  • the recipients in the e-mail distribution list for the Danny object (see FIG. 17) are then added to the e-mail distribution list for the current e-mail message (step 1560) . Note that Grandpa Joe, Grandma JoAnn, and Home are already in the distribution list of the current e-mail message, so these are not added again.
  • the Aunt Sylvia and Cousin Fred in the e-mail distribution list for the Danny object are added to the e-mail distribution list for the current e-mail message.
  • the resulting e-mail distribution list is shown in FIG. 18, and includes Grandpa Joe, Grandma JoAnn, Uncle Bill, Aunt Sylvia, Cousin Fred, and Home.
  • the resulting e-mail distribution list in FIG. 18 is a superset of the e-mail distribution lists for the recognized objects, shown in FIG. 17.
  • the preferred embodiments greatly enhance the ability to automatically perform functions based on recognized objects in a digital image. This allows automatic cataloging and storage of digital images based on their content.
  • the present invention allows actions to be automatically performed based on the content of a digital image, such as e-mailing the digital image to a distribution list of recipients defined by the recognized objects in the digital image.
  • any suitable function may be defined to correspond to a defined object, not just the defined functions presented herein.
  • a defined object of an American Flag may have a corresponding function of generating an e-mail message that includes the digital image when an American flag is recognized, and attaching to the e-mail an audio file (such as a .wav file) of a patriotic song, such as The Star-Spangled Banner.
  • Any suitable function of functions could be performed within the scope of the preferred embodiments when a defined object is recognized.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne un dispositif et un procédé pour la définition d'un ou plusieurs objets, et d'une ou plusieurs fonctions correspondant à ces objets définis (1340). Un processeur de reconnaissance d'objet (1320) traite les images numériques, à la recherche des objets définis (1340). Pour chaque objet défini (1340), trouvé dans l'image numérique, une fonction correspondante est exécutée. On traite les images numériques pour repérer d'éventuels objets (par exemple, visages de personnes) dans l'image numérique. Lorsqu'un objet est reconnu, un message électronique est établi automatiquement (1370), avec une liste de distribution (1350) définie par les objets reconnus. S'agissant du message électronique, la liste de distribution (1350) est un sur-ensemble des listes de distribution spécifiques propres à tous les objets reconnus.
PCT/US2002/006972 2001-10-15 2002-03-07 Dispositif et procede pour l'execution de fonctions preetablies en fonction d'objets reconnus Ceased WO2003034321A1 (fr)

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US09/977,649 US20030072488A1 (en) 2001-10-15 2001-10-15 Apparatus and method for recognizing objects in a digital image and for performing one or more predetermined functions according to recognized objects

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